a Tail of Two Cities

Chapter two- Ben

So here's chapter two! Writing for Ben is sortof difficult. Cammie's personality is more like mine, but for Ben's emotional artist personality, i had to really think deep. i hope you like it and keep reading :-)

BEN KNIGHT

I stretched out on my bed and stared at the fan rotating on the ceiling. A loon cried in the distance, the mournful sound echoed across the lake. My yellow Labrador, Duke, snored loudly as he slept loyally next to my bed. The rain drilled my windows at an angle and every few seconds, thunder would growl and shake my small house. Nights like these were my favorite. Though the world outside was restless, inside the shack-like home I lived in, everything was peaceful and secure. Everything seemed at ease, but I groaned when I realized I had to be at work at four in the next morning. That towing job was proving to be a lot worse than it was worth. I groaned again and rolled onto my belly, falling asleep to Duke's rhythmic snores.

--

I woke when the moon was still up. Rubbing my sandy eyes, I stretched with a sigh. The rain had stopped and now the lake lapped its shores with a new rejuvenation. I imagined what it would be like to draw it now as I had so many times before. With any problems in my life, I turned to the lake for support. And today, its small white-capped waves, the bobbing lily flowers, and the blue glow of the moon all begged to be sketched. The colors would leap off the page, the moon would be reflected in the churning waters, and the trees would loom tall over the deep lake. The dull flashing light of my alarm clock interrupted my fantasy, and I raced to get dressed. Shoving a piece of toast in my mouth, I ran towards the front door to find Duke in the way with his leash in his mouth, tail thumping enthusiastically against the ground. I grinned.  

"Not right now boy, I have work!" I sidestepped around him and tried to open the door. He dropped his slobbery leash on my feet and stood up. "Fine, wanna go to work with me, buddy?"  

Watching him bound toward my truck in the glow of dawn lifted my spirits. If he was so excited to go to work, maybe it wouldn't be that bad. I laughed as he darted and snapped at a moth. "Who knows, maybe something interesting could happen on the road," I thought. Duke jumped at the moth again. "Hmph. Like anything could happen in this small town."

--

Tree. Tree. Tree. Fire hydrant. Tree.  

I drove around glumly while Duke hung his head out of the window with a doggy grin on his face. He barked into the wind and I envied his cheerful, careful nature.  

"You're making me jealous, Duke. Why don't you drive, and I can stick my head out of the window?" He looked at me with his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth, and returned to the window with a happy yap.  

Driving around and looking for any cars is not in my description of a good time. The scenery is sometimes broken with a light pole or a fleeing deer, but for the most part, there was nothing to do or see on the roads of my small Wisconsin town but trees. I revved the engine, speeding up. The wind whipped Duke's ears and his tail wagged even more. A mental snapshot of the moonlit lake filled my mind as I drove absentmindedly. Suddenly, my headlights fell on a dark shape in the distance. The tires squealed and croaked against the gravel as I violently swerved the car. Upon growing closer, I saw that it was just a brown rusty truck parked near the trees.  

"God. What on earth?" I cursed. I was getting too jumpy in the shadows of dawn. The car was old, but it looked like it could still be salvaged. It could definitely make some money on parts back at the tow yard. I slammed my door and walked across the crunching gravel to it, peering inside the rear window. A woman's face was peering back at me, and I yelled in surprise. She tumbled backwards with a thud. Though I knew better than to talk to a random stranger living in her car, her young face drew me in and I opened her squealing door. I helped her up and got a chance to study her.  

She was tall and slender, with narrow shoulders and wild dark hair that reached past her small chest to her ribs. Her surprised eyes were wide and the color of dewy grass. She was wearing sweat pants and a tiny white tank top that slouched a little, revealing some of her blue bra. I tried to avert my gaze, but this girl was the definition of gorgeous. There was no way she went to my school, I would have noticed her. All of the boys would have.  

"Hey, you okay?" I found myself asking. What was it about her that made me feel so concerned? I noticed she was clutching an ice scraper tightly. I smiled at her worthless weapon and continued talking with her. Her name flew through my head seemingly a thousand times as she told me it. Cammie Sanders.  

Talking with her was so easy; the words that came out of my mouth seemed to flow without needing to be thought through. Every time she joked, her smile drew me in closer. Those eyes... I could spend hours drawing every lash and shadow. They were so full of laughter and happiness, but they were hiding something. For some reason I offered to jump her car, knowing it was against the rules at work and a fire-able offense to boot. There was just something about her that begged for help, strived to be noticed. She hesitated as she walked out of her old truck, observing everything around her.  

Cammie carried the cables as I struggled to open the hood of her truck. The grinding of the un-oiled hinges screamed through the forest, shattering the silence. Duke barked at the pitiful noise.  

"Ah, you have a dog?" She asked, not looking at me. The trees, the sky, the car; she carefully watched them all.  

"He guilted his way into coming to work with me," I admitted. "He's got the best puppy-dog face I have ever seen."  

Cammie finally looked at me, her green eyes wide. She fluttered her long eyelashes and looked up at me in an impressive dog begging face. "Oh yeah? How about mine?"  

"Hmmm. It's a close competition; I'd say you're giving Duke a run for his money. Do you expect a biscuit now?"  

"That sounds so tempting, but I think I'll pass."She remarked with a smile, turning her eyes back on her surroundings. The silence that followed was comfortable, but I wanted to continue to hear her honey-coated voice some more.  

"So, what brings you to Wisconsin?" I prodded.  

"My parents are obsessed with 'keeping up with the Joneses,'" She started, choosing her words carefully. With some restraint, she continued, "Everything they have has to be bigger and better than everyone else's in our neighborhood. They worked like crazy to have the best car, the nicest house, and the biggest pool. I didn't see them much growing up, but I knew they were struggling. So when we lost our house and had to move into a trailer park, they still didn't learn. We had the biggest trailer, and my mom went as far as planting daises around the entire thing."She paused again, as if she was rolling her sentences around in her mind. "I'm here for the summer to work at my aunt's café to make some money for college. Maybe you've heard of it, it's called Melrose Pier?"  

I grinned. That café was the most popular place in our small town, a large restaurant surrounded by a public beach. People came for the swimming and because it had a small farm attached to it, where the owner got all the eggs and milk for breakfast specials. The health junkies in town went crazy for the organic food, and the children loved to interact with the animals. Cammie's aunt definitely knew how to run a business in a town like this. "Ah, everyone knows Melrose Pier. You'll love working there. ....Aaaand, done." I announced, closing the hood of her car. It protested, squealing loudly and piercing the otherwise silent morning. Duke barked again.  

"Thank you so much, you saved me!" She shook my hand enthusiastically and I savored her touch.  

"No problem, Cammie-Sanders-from-Florida," I said, and looked at those eyes one more time before turning and driving away.  

Whatever else that happened on that drive was a blur. Visions of the lake filled my head, but accompanied by something else. Me and Cammie, on the log swings my dad had attached to a tree by the water, me and Cammie racing with Duke along the beach, me and Cammie eating during her breaks at Melrose Pier.  

I turned to Duke with a smile. I knew where we'd go for our walks every day this summer.  

Melrose Pier.

--

Chapter three should be out soon, but because of school and swim practice, and mentoring at church, im not home much. How about four days?  

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